false 1301782 67 Meet Oskar Matzerath, "the eternal three-year-old drummer." On the morning of his third birthday, dressed in a striped pullover and patent leather shoes, and clutching his drumsticks and his new tin drum, young Oskar makes an irrevocable decision: "It was then that I declared, resolved, and determined that I would never under any circumstances be a politician, much less a grocer; that I would stop right there, remain as I was--and so I did; for many years I not only stayed the same size but clung to the same attire." Here is a Peter Pan story with a vengeance. But instead of Never-Never Land, Günter Grass gives us Danzig, a contested city on the Polish-German border; instead of Captain Hook and his pirates, we have the Nazis. And in place of Peter himself is Oskar, a twisted <I>puer aeternis</I> with a scream that can shatter glass and a drum rather than a shadow. First published in 1959, <I>The Tin Drum</I>'s depiction of the Nazi era created a furor in Germany, for the world of Grass's making is rife with corrupt politicians and brutal grocers in brown shirts: <blockquote> There was once a grocer who closed his store one day in November, because something was doing in town; taking his son Oskar by the hand, he boarded a Number 5 streetcar and rode to the Langasser Gate, because there as in Zoppot and Langfuhr the synagogue was on fire. The synagogue had almost burned down and the firemen were looking on, taking care that the flames should not spread to other buildings. Outside the wrecked synagogue, men in uniform and others in civilian clothes piled up books, ritual objects, and strange kinds of cloth. The mound was set on fire and the grocer took advantage of the opportunity to warm his fingers and his feelings over the public blaze. </blockquote> As Oskar grows older (though not taller), portents of war transform into the thing itself. Danzig is the first casualty when, in the summer of 1939, residents turn against each other in a pitched battle between Poles and Germans. In the years that follow, Oskar goes from one picaresque adventure to the next--he joins a troupe of traveling musicians; he becomes the leader of a group of anarchists; he falls in love; he becomes a recording artist--until some time after the war, he is convicted of murder and confined to a mental hospital. <p> <I>The Tin Drum</I> uses savage comedy and a stiff dose of magical realism to capture not only the madness of war, but also the black cancer at the heart of humanity that allows such degradations to occur. Grass wields his humor like a knife--yes, he'll make you laugh, but he'll make you bleed, as well. There have been many novels written about World War II, but only a handful can truly be called great; <I>The Tin Drum</I>, without a doubt, is one. <I>--Alix Wilber</I> 922581 book 5 5 1959 The Tin Drum total:3064|5:1288|4:994|3:504|2:192|1:86| 3064 12398 4667 323 5 9 false false Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2000 Wed Apr 04 21:27:27 -0700 2007 Wed Apr 04 21:33:52 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 5 false false Sat Mar 01 15:02:36 -0800 2008 Wed Jan 23 20:11:24 -0800 2008 Wed Jan 23 21:50:23 -0800 2008 Drum a stellar read is its tone. A reviewer might have described it as 'sardonically irreverant' had not Waiting for Guffman been the source of the phrase. Dripping with arrogance and wit against a macabre backdrop, The Tin Drum f...more...]]> 2 7 false false Mon Feb 11 19:03:36 -0800 2008 Mon Feb 11 19:24:46 -0800 2008 more...]]> 2 3 false false Tue May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Thu May 17 19:22:05 -0700 2007 Thu May 17 20:13:40 -0700 2007 more...]]> 3 1 false false Sat Jan 03 01:20:41 -0800 2009 Thu Jan 15 07:44:47 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 1 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Jan 21 23:43:56 -0800 2008 Tue Jan 22 00:03:36 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 1 false false Thu Jul 12 08:16:03 -0700 2007 Wed Jul 25 11:22:31 -0700 2007
Destination Berlin. Yeah! Ja!

Stefania a friend of a friend of mine had given me the keys of her house in Fredrichshain, the quarter where former medium hyerarchies of the communi...more...]]> 5 2 false false Fri Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1971 Sat Jul 05 06:08:40 -0700 2008 Sat Jul 05 07:11:10 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 1 false false Mon May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Tue Aug 21 08:57:04 -0700 2007 Mon Dec 29 09:47:38 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 1 false false Fri Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Mar 25 22:23:38 -0700 2008 Tue Mar 25 22:23:38 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 1 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sat Dec 29 21:09:52 -0800 2007 Sat Dec 29 21:09:52 -0800 2007 more...]]> 3 1 false false Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sat Jun 02 18:49:50 -0700 2007 Fri Sep 07 22:06:55 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 0 false true Mon May 15 00:00:00 -0700 2000 Sat Oct 24 10:01:01 -0700 2009 Sat Oct 24 10:05:19 -0700 2009
Translated by Ralph Manheim

This story is written as an autobiography of Oskar Matzerath, a stunted growth man who makes the use of his Tin Drum and ability to do a high piercing scream that could break glass windows. It takes place during...more...]]> 4 1 false false Mon Oct 06 07:55:18 -0700 2008 Mon Oct 06 11:41:37 -0700 2008
Not caring for the world he is growing up in, a small boy determines to remain a child. The epic sweep of Grass' novel satirises German nationalism and the rise and fall of the...more...]]> 3 1 false false Sun Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2002 Thu Nov 01 12:27:34 -0700 2007 Thu Nov 01 12:30:32 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 1 false false Mon Mar 12 13:03:22 -0700 2007 Mon Mar 12 13:12:45 -0700 2007
(a gripping tale about Poland at the beginning of world war II, through the eyes of a crazed lilliputian percussionist.)

Gifted to me by my father.]]> 4 0 false false Fri Apr 17 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Apr 24 13:39:01 -0700 2009 Mon May 04 02:54:26 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue May 12 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Apr 18 11:06:15 -0700 2009 Thu May 14 08:51:30 -0700 2009 Wise Blood?!” This merry-go-ro...more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Jun 04 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Sep 04 00:30:24 -0700 2009 Fri Sep 04 00:30:24 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Feb 12 23:12:22 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 12 23:19:48 -0800 2009 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=35743